Tool for joining reinforcing bars



Aug. 19, 1969 M. F. SKOLD TOOL FOR JOINING REINFORCING BARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15, 1966 INVENTOR l /5 Wm fgw United States Patent 3,461,536 T001. FOR JOINING REINFORCING BARS Mats Follre Skold, Naclra, Sweden 1H. Skolds Patentbyra AB, Folkskolegatan 22, Stockholm, Sweden) Filed Sept. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 579,551 Claims priority, application Sweden, Sept. 16, 1965, 12,065/ 65 Int. Cl. B23p 11/02, 19/04 U.S. Cl. 29-212 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a spacing member, a tool, and a method for joining reinforcing iron bars at a given distance above a surface to be cast with concrete.

In concrete casting of floors and the like normally one set of reinforcing parallel iron bars are arranged at a distance from the underside of the casting form corresponding to 1 /2 of the diameter of the iron bars. For this purpose, spacers, generally in the form of circular fiat members, are arranged under said first set of parallel running bars and then further reinforcing bars are laid out above and crosswise to said first set of bars and lashed together with said first bars by means of wires at the crossing points. This method i time-consuming, laborious and tiresome since the worker has to work in a forward bent position. Different suggestions have been made in order to avoid said spacing and lashing work but until now no practical solution of said problem has been found, especially not a method for spacing the bars and simultaneously lashing said bars together with the crossing bars arranged above said first bars.

According to the present invention said problem is solved by the use of a distance member, said member being arranged to be applied to the crossing points of said bars by means of a manually handled tool which allows a person to work in an upright position, said member and said tool lifting both set of bars a given distance above the base of said concrete form and at the same time lashing said bars together.

According to the invention said member comprises two essentially parallel legs connected to each other and spaced from each other at least a distance corresponding to the diameter of said reinforcing bars by a cross piece, preferably formed in one piece with said legs, the free ends of said legs turned against the bottom surface of said moulding form having triangular form, the base of which triangle is turned towards said surface and the points of which are directed against the bar resting against said moulding surface perpendicular to said member, said legs forming an upwards sloping surface for said lower reinforcing iron bar, said sloping surface at said given distance of the bar from the bottom surface of said mould ending in an inwardly directed circular recess having a diameter approximately corresponding to the diameter of said bar, the opening of said recess towards said bar preferably being slightly smaller than the diameter of the bar and the distance between said circular recess and said cross piece connecting the legs at least corresponding to the diameter of said crosswisely arranged bar.

Patented Aug. 19, 1969 Preferably the legs of said member are provided with supporting means projecting outwardly and perpendicularly to the surface of said legs and in the same plane as the underside of said legs.

Further, said member may be provided with guiding means to guide the member along a channel in an elongated magazine of a hand tool.

According to the invention the member is preferably made of an elastic synthetic plastic material.

Moreover the part of the legs above the opening to said recess are provided with projecting part to guide said bar into said circular recess.

The invention comprises a tool for applying spacing members to crosswise arranged reinforcing iron bars laid out on the bottom surface of a concrete moulding form to space said bars a given distance above said moulding form by means of pre-made spacers and at the same time lashing said crossing bars together by means of said spacing members, said tool comprising in combination means for holding said spacing members, means for ejecting the same from the tool to push a sloping surface of said member against a bar resting on the surface of said moulding form, said means being arranged to lift said bar along said sloping surface of the spacing member upwards into a preferably circular holding recess in said spacing member together with a second bar arranged above and crosswise to said first bar, said second bar being arranged to be lifted by said tool into a second recess arranged perpendicular to said first recess, said ejecting means cooperating with stop means spaced from said ejecting means a distance at least corresponding to the diameter of said lower bar.

Said tool also comprises an elongated vertical magazine for spacing members, an opening at the lower part of said magazine for ejecting said spacing means approximately in level with the bottom surface of said concrete moulding form, said ejecting means comprising a forkformed member for pushing said spacer out of said magazine towards a reinforcing bar resting on the bottom surface of said mould and against a stop for said bar, said stop being firmly connected to the lower end of said tool, and the lower part of which is arranged to contact the lower reinforcing iron bar, said forkmember being arranged to push said bar against said stop and to lift the bar along said sloping surface and to press the bar into said recess.

The fork-formed member of said tool is suitably connected to a level swingably mounted on said magazine and pivotally connected to a second level, said second level being provided with means for actuating said forklevel to push the same forwards against a spacing member in the lower part of said magazine, eject the member out of the magazine, and to swing said fork-formed lever upwards together with said spacing member and said crosswise arranged bars to secure the same in recesses in said spacing member.

Said tool is used in performing a method for spacing reinforcing crosswise arranged iron bars a given distance above the surface of a concrete moulding form and lashing said bars together at the crossing points of the same, said method comprising the steps of pushing a spacing member having two spaced legs joined together at their outer parts by a cross-piece and being provided with a sloping surface directed towards said bars at the crossing points of the same from a holder for said spacing members by means of a fork-shaped member to bring an underlying perpendicularly to said spacer arranged rod to slide up along said sloping surface together with the crosswise arranged bar, said lengthwise to the spacer running upper rod being lifted up between said legs against said cross piece, the underlying rod being forced into a circular opening in said legs at the end of said sloping surface by said fork-member, in cooperation with a stopper resting against the other side of the lower bar said lower bar thereby being locked into said circular recess.

The objects and advantages of the present invention are more fully described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a spacing member according to the invention together with two crosswise arranged reinforcing bars to be joined by said spacing member.

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 but with the reinforcing bars being lifted and locked in the spacing member,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are side views of a tool for applying a spacing member according to the invention.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show in an enlarged scale the lifting and joining of two crosswise arranged iron bars.

The spacing member 1 according to FIG. 1 comprises two legs 7, 8 spaced from each other a distance substantially corresponding to the diameter of an iron rod to be inserted between, said legs being joined by means of a cross piece 6, preferably formed in one piece with said legs. The member is suitably made of an elastic synthetic material for reasons which will be evident from the following description. The legs 7, 8 have triangular projecting feet 2 which are arranged to be directed perpendicular to an iron bar 9 lying on the bottom surface of a concrete moulding form, said bar 9 being crossed by an overlying bar arranged parallel to said legs. Said triangular feet form a sloping or guiding surface for the rod 9. The sloping rides of said feet end into a circular recess 4 the opening of which preferably is slightly smaller than the diameter of the rod to be lifted up into said recess 4. Between said recess 4 and the cross piece 6 is an opening 5 for receiving the bar 10 which runs parallel to said legs 7, 8 and which is to be lifted into said opening by said lower bar 9.

In order to strengthen the spacing member in the uplifted position of the bars for instance when walking over the reinforcing netting work the legs 7 and 8 are provided with projecting parts 3 resting against the underside of the moulding form. Moreover, the legs are provided with guiding pins projecting perpendicular to said legs to guide the member in an elongated magazine, said strengthening parts and guiding pins preferably being made in one piece with the spacing member in a moulding process.

FIG. 2 shows the reinforcing rods 9, 10 in the uplifted and locked position in the spacing member 1, the lower bar 9 being inserted into the circular recesses 4 and the bar 10 being inserted in the recess 5 between the legs 7, 8 and above the bar 9 which holds the bar 10 in its position.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are side views of a tool for applying a spacing member according to the invention to the crossing point to two perpendicular to each other arranged reinforcing bars.

The tool comprises an elongated magazine 11 for the I spacing members 1 which preferably are joined together in length corresponding to the length of said magazine. The magazine has a cross section corresponding to the cross section of said spacing member. In order to force the members downwards the members may be loaded by a weight 24 slidably arranged in said magazine. At its lower part the magazine has an opening the height of which corresponds to the height of the spacing members. Opposite said opening is a fork-formed stop member 14 which is firmly attached to the tool. The outer parts of said fork member are bent vertically downwards and the ends thereof lying in the same plane as the underside of said magazine. The bent down parts of the fork member are spaced a distance from said magazine corresponding to a little more than the diameter of the reinforcing iron bar stopped by said fork member 14.

In order to push a spacing member out of the maga- 'zine with the sloping sides thereof turned against the bar 9 a second fork member 15, 16 is arranged. Said fork member 15, 16 comprises a level 16 which carries a fork 15 at its lower part, said fork being arranged to be moved towards the legs of a spacing member at the bottom of said magazine to push said spacer against the reinforcing rod 9 and with the help of the stopper 14 and the sloping surfaces 2 on the spacer 1 lift said bar and force the same into the circular recesses 4 in the spacer 1. For this purpose the level is swingably mounted at 23 and the other end thereof provided with a pin 17 which is slidable in an elongated groove in a member 19. Said member 19 is connected with a rod which is slidably arranged in two sliding members 20, 21. The upper end of said rod, which is arranged in a height above the floor corresponding to a convenient upright standing position of a person, is provided with a handle 22 or connected to hydraulic means H for pushing the rod downwards. Thereby the upper part of the level 16 is swung outwardly while the lower part of the same together with the fork 15 is swung forwardly and thereby pushing out a spacer from the magazine 11 and at the same time lifting and joining the rods 9 and 10.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate in more detail the working stroke of the fork 15 and the cooperation between said fork, the spacing member, and the stopper 14 when two crosswise arranged bars 9 and 10 are lifted from the bottom surface of a concrete form and joined together.

From the above description is evident that invention provides a simple and easy method for spacing reinforcing bars from the underside of a casting form and for simultaneously lashing said bar to a crosswise arranged second bar. A most important feature according-to the invention includes the fact that the Whole Work can be made in an upright standing position whereby all straining of the back of the worker is eliminated.

What I claim is:

1. A tool for applying spacing members to crosswise arranged reinforcing iron bars laid out on the bottom surface of a concrete moulding form to space said bars a given distance above said moulding form by means of pre-made spacers and at the same time lashing said crossing bars together by means of said spacing members, said tool comprising in combination means for holding said spacing members, means for ejecting the same from the tool to push a sloping surface of said member against a bar resting on the surface of said moulding form, said means being arranged to lift said bar along said sloping surface of the spacing member upwards into a preferably circular holding recess in said spacing member together with a second bar arranged above and crosswise to said first bar, said second bar being arranged to be lifted by said tool into a second recess arranged perpendicular to said first recess, said ejecting means cooperating with stop means spaced from said ejecting means a distance at least corresponding to the diameter of said lower bar.

2. A tool according to claim 1 comprising an elongated vertical magazine for spacing members, an opening at the lower part of said magazine for ejecting said spacing means approximately level with the bottom surface of said concrete moulding form, said ejecting means comprising a fork-shaped member for pushing said spacer out of said magazine towards a reinforcing bar resting on the bottom surface of said mould and against a stop for said bar, said stop being firmly connected to the lower end of said tool, and the lower part of which is arranged to contact the lower reinforcing iron bar, said fork-member being arranged to push said bar against said stop and to lift the bar along said sloping surface and to press the bar into said recess.

5 6 3. A tool according to claim 2 wherein said fork- References Cited formedimember is congectedttcila legelnswtincglgaia1yzincsmrgreld1 UNITED STATES PATENTS on sar magazine an pivo a y c n ece o ec level, said second level being provided with means for 5 1212 7 actuating said fork-level to push the same forwards against 5 3:2O0:488 8/1965 Johansson 29 453 a spacing member in the lower part of said magazine,

eject the member out of the magazine, and to swing said THOMAS 1-1, EAGER, Prima -y E i fork-shaped lever upwards together with said spacing memher and said crosswise arranged bars to secure the same in recesses in said spacing member. 10 29-455 453 

